Hungary festival row over gay programme

A group of Hungarian gay rights organisations has started legal action against a district mayor in Budapest who has sought to ban them from a major pop festival.

The organisations say the ban is in breach of the Hungarian constitution and international agreements the country has signed.

The attempted ban has also been condemned by the head of the EU mission in Hungary who is a patron of the Pepsi Island festival.

The programme planned by the gay organisations includes talks on homosexuality and minorities.

The mayor said he was acting to protect young visitors and that it was unfortunate he could not ban gay visitors.

The week-long Pepsi Island is one of the main pop festivals in Central Europe, attracting tens of thousands of visitors.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service